At the moment, since Soyuz exists and Orion doesn't yet, I'd have to say it's more capable. At the moment.
NASA and the Feds screwed up by so heavily investing in the shuttle even when its flaws were apparent, and for failing to start building a replacement early enough to come on-line when the shuttle retires.
NASA now reliant on Russia.
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Broomstick
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Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
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Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Sam Vimes Theory of Economic Injustice
That was in response to the question on why the US wouldn't license Soyuz - it doesn't meet our needs. Granted, I think there are weird decisions made with it - the CEV competition showed numerous designs with a mission module, for example, with a separate crew module, while the final version is essentially an oversized Apollo capsule.Broomstick wrote:At the moment, since Soyuz exists and Orion doesn't yet, I'd have to say it's more capable. At the moment.
Well, that and the shuttle is the result of far too many competing requirements and trying to lowball the costs. That, and a certain SecDef killing a crew-only shuttle in the 1960s!NASA and the Feds screwed up by so heavily investing in the shuttle even when its flaws were apparent, and for failing to start building a replacement early enough to come on-line when the shuttle retires.
Beyond the superficial resemblance, Shenzou is actually a completely different animal from Soyuz, using no licensed parts whatsoever, and it took them seven years to get from acquiring the license to putting a man in space.
It'd probably be cheap to license the Soyuz and mate it with a launch vehicle, but it's even cheaper to just pay lift costs for Russian launches. In the meantime, you can better invest the difference back into a (hopefully) order of magnitude less costly native spacecraft, lifter and supply chain.
It'd probably be cheap to license the Soyuz and mate it with a launch vehicle, but it's even cheaper to just pay lift costs for Russian launches. In the meantime, you can better invest the difference back into a (hopefully) order of magnitude less costly native spacecraft, lifter and supply chain.
China also had no experience with human spaceflight, while the US has a good set of people, procedures and infrastructure in place.Paolo wrote:Beyond the superficial resemblance, Shenzou is actually a completely different animal from Soyuz, using no licensed parts whatsoever, and it took them seven years to get from acquiring the license to putting a man in space.
Well, of course it's economically optimal to just pay the Russians ; But if Americans are oh-so-worried about the grievous national security threat, they could just buy a ready solution like the Soyuz to bridge the gap between the Shuttle and Orion.Paolo wrote:It'd probably be cheap to license the Soyuz and mate it with a launch vehicle, but it's even cheaper to just pay lift costs for Russian launches.
You could also raise NASA's budget a bit, too. They literally get pocket change right now ; The US could've had the Orion already if they bothered with proper funding.Paolo wrote:In the meantime, you can better invest the difference back into a (hopefully) order of magnitude less costly native spacecraft, lifter and supply chain.
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